Trivia / Luke Cage: Hero for Hire

• Real Life Writes the Plot: In the late 70s, both Luke's book and Iron Fist's were going to be cancelled, as they were both essentially fad heroes whose fad had passed. Mary Jo Duffy, who liked both characters, volunteered to take the two on in one book. Thanks to her great characterisation of their Odd Friendship and supporting cast, and the Genre-Busting fun she had with plots, the book became a hit, and probably saved the characters from relative obscurity.
• What Could Have Been: Quentin Tarantino's first idea for his follow-up to the smash success of Pulp Fiction was a Luke Cage film that would be a scene for scene adaptation of the first comic issue, which he describes as a perfect encapsulation of everything great about the Blaxploitation genre.
  • Jamie Foxx and Tyrese Gibson were considered for the role, while Dwayne Johnson, Isaiah Mustafa, and Idris Elba were interested.